The state’s attorney general announced on Monday, April 17, that an Ohio grand jury decided not to indict eight Akron police officers in the death of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man shot numerous times by the police following an attempted traffic stop and a chase last summer.

According to a police video that was made public, police chased Walker after he failed to stop, first in their cars and then on foot.  The police claimed they shot Walker because they believed he had fired a weapon from his automobile, and they were afraid he would do so again.

Walker had fired at least one shot at the police from his car but was unarmed when the police pursued him on foot and fatally shot him.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost spoke on the case saying, “He reached for his waistband in what several officers described as a cross-draw motion, planted his foot and turned toward the officers while raising his hand,” Yost claimed. “Only then did the officers fire, believing Mr. Walker was firing again at them.”

Authorities did not discover a gun on Walker, but one in the vehicle.